Through Thick and Thin
by Angel of Fire1
Summary: During a party for Ryo's 17th birthday, something goes horribly wrong *yaoi warning*
1. Through Thick and Thin

Ok, Disclaimers, whoever owns the Ronins owns them, I don't. Any original character's, though I rarely use them, are mine, but if you like them, like I care if you use them. And warning, bad things happen to Sage and Cye, kay? Well, have fun! 

Through Thick and Thin

Chapter 1

"Oh Cye, our poor innocent, naïve little Cye. Can't stand seeing Mia's underwear while folding clothes. So pathetic………."

"I'm not pathetic! I'm just not as comfortable with seeing those types of things."

"Yeah Sage, stop harassing the British brat."

"Kento, I am not a brat!"

"Oh Cye, you look so cute when you'remad." Sage teased as Cye glared at him.

"I am not mad." 

"Could have fooled me." Rowen said as he entered the room with a book in one hand a sandwich in the other. He then plopped onto the couch next to Sage.

"So, Sage, having fun with Mia's underwear?"

"You better believe it. And Cye is too though he'd never admit it."

"Hmpf……" Cye muttered in distaste. Rowen grinned at his British friend.

"Hey Kento, there are a bunch of sandwiches in the kitchen."

"Sandwiches? Cool I'm there!" Cye and Sage sighed in unison.

"Thinks with his stomach, not with his brain."

"I agree." Cye replied to Sage's words.

"Well, I guess I better go make sure he doesn't want anything else."

"But I was just in the kitchen and there are about 20 of those things." Cye looked at him and Sage sighed.

"Rowen, this is Kento. No way in hell are 20 sandwiches gonna fill him up." Rowen nodded in understandment. Kento could eat more food in a day then Sage could in a week. As soon as Cye left the room, Rowen let his head rest on Sage's shoulder as he continued reading.

"Rowen, how many times have I told you that while you are in my presence you are not aloud to read?" Rowen grinned.

"Lots of times. And how many times have I told you that I won't listen to you?" It was Sage's turn to smile.

"Lots of times." Rowen laughed slightly as Sage gently pried the book out of Rowen's hand and set it on the table. He leaned down and gently kissed the bridge of Rowen's nose.

"I think I've found something better then reading."  
"I thought so." Sage muttered, deepening the kiss. It was then Rowen pulled away.

"What…..?" Sage questioned as Ryo walked in the room.

"Hey guys, what's up? I'm bored. Either of you got any ideas of what we could do?" Sage shrugged.

"Not really. Why don't you go do something with Mia?" It was Ryo's turn to shrug.

"I don't know. I'm out with Mia so much that I never get to spend time with the guys."

"Getting tired of doing women stuff?" Sage asked flatly.

"Oh yeah." Ryo replied.

"We could go to a bar."

"Well, that's not interesting. Anyway, Mia won't let me drink." Sage and Rowen stifled their laughter as Ryo glared at them.

"Fine Ryo, why don't you go as a girl." Rowen joked as Ryo's eyes widened.

"Ryo, you aren't serious. You aren't actually thinking of dressing up as a girl are you?" Rowen asked nervously.

"Of course not! I couldn't pull of being a girl if I wanted to. But you two…… That might work."

"No Way Ryo! Maybe if it's your birthday or some celebration, but on a normal occasion? Uh uh . Yeah right." Ryo sighed.

"Fine. But if it was a celebration then you would, right?" Sage nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind you two." Ryo said as he walked out of the room, a devilish grin on his face.

~~~~~~ 

What Sage and Rowen didn't expect was for Ryo to remember their promise 2 months later.

"But guys, you promised that you'd do it a long time ago!" Ryo exclaimed.

"We were joking Ryo. Sage wasn't serious about it."

"Well, actually, at the time I was......" Rowen glared at Sage.

"That's not helping!" Sage shrugged.

"Well, since it is Ryo's 17th birthday, I think he deserves a treat. I mean, he is our leader and all, the least I could do is provide the entertainment. I'll just get drunk off my ass and then we'll see what happens." Rowen began shaking his head no.

"Uh uh. No way. Sage, when you get drunk, you hit on everyone, male or female." Sage shrugged.

"Rowen, why would that bother you? Sage always hits on everyone." A blush slowly crept up the archer's face as he turned away.

"No reason." He muttered.

"Rowen, I'll go pick out our dresses later. And Ryo, don't tell everyone else. I wanna see if I can make it so that they don't recognize us." Rowen's face flushed crimson.

"I cant believe we're actually gonna do this." He muttered as he left the room.

"Well, guess I better go get those dresses." Sage said as he exited the room. All Ryo could do was laugh, thinking of what the next night would bring.

~~~~~~

When Sage awoke the next day, he did not expect to find a coughing Rowen in the bed next to him.

"Rowen?" He muttered as he walked over to his friend and placed his palm on the boys forehead.

"Oh no. You're burning alive. I better go get Cye."

"Stay." Rowen said to Sage as the blonde stopped in his tracks.

//Guys, Rowen's sick. Come here.// Sage called telepathically to his friends. Within moments, all the Warriors were in the room.

"Oh dear. He has a nasty cold." Cye muttered. Sage gently pressed his palm against Rowen's forehead. A rush of light and warmth rushed over Rowen, and a smile formed on the archers lips. He could feel Sage's presence and essence filling his body and gently healing his wounds.

"He'll be fine." Sage said, his breath slightly faster then normal. The Warriors figured out what Sage had done and said nothing. It was then Ryo pulled Sage aside.

"Sage, Rowen's sick. What about our plans tonight?"

"well, I guess he can't do it, though that's stating the obvious. And I spent good money on that dress." Sage looked around the room when a smile curled on his lips.

"Unless we get someone else to wear it...." Sage muttered, eyeing Cye in the corner of the room.

"Will it fit?" Ryo asked.

" Don't worry. I'm the one with the tight outfit, his is rather lose, so it's bound to fit." Sage whispered back to Ryo.

"Ryo, I'm gonna go to the kitchen. In a few minutes, tell Cye that I wanted to talk to him in the kitchen." Ryo nodded as sage walked out of the room.

"This is gonna be a birthday I'll never forget..." Ryo grinned as he approached Cye.

~~~~~~

"Sage, Ryo said that you wanted to see me about something."

"Indeed I do. For Ryo's birthday, Rowen and I had planned a little show. But since Rowen can't perform tonight, I was wondering if you could fill in."

"What kind of performance?" Cye asked curiously as Sage smiled slyly.

"I'll tell you if you agree to help in advance."

"I don't know...."

"Come on, were just trying to make this a birthday Ryo will never forget." Sage pleaded.

"Oh all right. What do I have to do?"

"Just come with me to get ready."

~~~~~~

"Oh my! Dress up as a woman? No thank you!"

"But Cye, you promised!" Sage exclaimed.

"That was before I knew you were trying to change my sexuality!" Sage sighed.

"Oh come on Cye! How often is it that Ryo turns 17?"

"Once in a lifetime." Cye muttered as Sage nodded.

"And I'll never make you do anything like this again." Cye shook his head.

"Fine, I'll do it. But only because Ryo is our friend and you only live once I suppose." Sage gave Cye a rare and genuine smile.

"Thanks Cye. I owe you one. I just didn't want a 150 dollar dress to go to waste." Cye looked a Sage in awe.

"You spent 150 dollars on a dress?!"

"Well actually, 300 dollars for both. Ryo's done so much for us, and anyway, this is his birthday present." Cye shook his head.

"You haven't done this much for the rest of us."

"Maybe I will, when you guys turn 17, you just got lucky that you're already 17." Sage said slyly as he handed a box to Cye.

"Put that on. Everything you will need is in there." Cye nodded as he stepped into the bathroom. When he opened the box, he couldn't help but admire Sage's good taste. The dress was a pale baby blue that was loose and made of fine silk. Cye pulled on the dress, running his fingers over the cameo that was connected to the ribbon of the dress that circled his neck. He looked into the box and found a pair of matching cameo earrings. He gently put them on and reached into the bag for the last item. When he pulled it out, he noticed that it was a tiny ring. He pulled it closer to examine it, and realized that it was an emerald with two smaller diamonds to the sides.

"Oh my..." He muttered as he slipped it onto his ring finger. It was then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It was my grandmother's. She gave it to me to give to the person I love. I thought that it would go good with Rowen's outfit. So I was going to let him wear it." Cye nodded softly. He turned to face Sage and gasped at what he saw. Instead of his cold friend, he saw a striking woman with a tall, lean figure. She was wearing a dress that was indescribable. It was tight on the upper part of the body, but the lower part of the dress flowed. It had a slit that ran up to just below the thigh, and a see-through shawl draped across lean shoulders. Green high-heels added height to Sage's already to tall figure. Along the top of the heels were engravements of tiny golden flowers.

"WoahSage...." Cye gasped. Sage had a tiny bit of make-up on his face. Across his forehead was a tiny gold tiara with a fake emerald in the middle, and he'd obviously used a curling iron to make it so the tip of his hair curled inwards.

"Cye, you're next."

"Eep..." Cye yelped before Sage called Mia into the room. When Mia entered she gasped.

"Sage, what do you need my help for? You seem to be doing a fine job on your own." Mia said while looking at Sage.

"I can put it on myself, but I always have trouble putting it on others." Mia nodded.

"OK Cye, just sit back and relax." Mia said, ushering him to sit on the chair.

"Relax! I'm dressed as a bloody woman!" Sage and Mia both began laughing.

"Cye, if you haven't noticed, I am too. And Mia is a woman." Sage said as Mia nodded in agreement.

"Mia, you work on Cye, I'm going to go get the last part of his outfit. Oh yeah, and his shoes are in a box under the bed." Sage said before pulling a cloak that was draped across the bed on. He pulled the hood on as Mia eyed him oddly.

"I don't want anyone to see me, yet." Mia nodded in response as she watched Sage leave the room.

~~~~~~

Sage gently opened a box he had secretly hid in Mia's room a long time ago. He actually had no use for it now that he was with Rowen. In the tiny box was a beautiful diamond engagement band. After his mom had left, his dad had given it to him, hoping Sage would have better luck with finding a wife. Sage laughed silently. He'd found the person he cared about, but unfortunately it was a guy. Oh well. Maybe Ryo could use it when he and Mia finally hooked up. Sage slowly stood up and made his way to the door when he ran into Ryo.

"Sage, what are you doing in Mia's room?" Ryo demanded.

"And why are you wearing that stupid cloak!?" Sage remained silent as always.

"Why are you in my girlfriend's room?!" Ryo grabbed the cloak and yanked it off the other boy. Underneath was what looked far from a boy.

"I was getting the last part of Cye's outfit, OK?" Ryo nodded, speechless. He wondered what Cye looked like at that moment.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get going. I've got to go give Cye this ring. It'll keep him from getting hit on so badly."

"What kind of ring is it?" Ryo asked oddly.

"An engagement. If anyone asks, he's with Kento. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to pretend that I'm married to. Oh well, I don't need as much protection as he does." Sage said as he slowly left the room.

"This is gonna be fun..." Ryo muttered as he also left the room.

~~~~~~

"OK guys, were ready!" Mia called out. She walked out first wearing a short lavender dress with pearls around her neck. Kento and Rowen sat in the living room, Rowen in a pair of flannel Pjs.

"Mia aren't you gonna be cold?" Rowen asked as Mia shrugged.

"Not as cold as Sage and Cye." She said giggling.

"Come on out you two!" Mia ordered as the two slowly appeared in the stairwell. Kento nearly fell out of his chair as he watched the two slowly proceed down the stairs.

"Mia. You mean to tell me that Cye the wuss, and Sage the cold bastard are the two hot ladies on the staircase?! This is great!" even Rowen was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yes, we are Sage and Cye. Now can we please get going?" Everyone nodded as they headed to the door.

"Bye guys! Have fun and take lots of pictures!" Rowen called out as everyone left the house.

~~~~~~

Cye blushed at the constant stares he was getting as soon as they entered. He didn't receive as much hungry glances as Sage, which was a relief.

"Sage, stay with me. Every man in the bar is looking at you like you're a piece of fresh meat." Kento warned as Sage sighed.

"Thanks for caring Kento, but I am very capable of taking care of myself. And anyway, Cye's the one who you're engaged to." Kento's eyes widened.

"What....?" Kento asked as Sage grinned.

"Cye is your "girl" for today. I gave him an engagement band so that he wouldn't worry as much. Less people will hit on him that way." Kento nodded. He guessed he didn't mind, Cye was his best friend and he didn't want anything to happen to him.

"Kento, I'd go save Cye. Two guys are pestering him." Sage said as he pointed to the Cye that was pinned up against the wall.

"Well, guess I better go save my fiancé." Kento said as he walked over to the men. Sage glanced around and spied the bar.

"Rowen didn't want me to drink anything......" He muttered to himself as he walked over to the bar and sat on a stool. Within 5 seconds, people were sending drinks in his direction. Sage was well aware of the fact that Rowen didn't want him drinking, but how was Sage supposed to turn down free drinks? Sage slowly pulled a glass up to his lips and began to sip at it.

"Sir, give that girl the strongest thing you have here. This should pay for it." A man pointing at Sage said as he handed the bartender the bills. The bartender counted up the bills before he nodded and passed the drink to the beautiful blonde before him.

"The man over there wanted to give you this." The bartender said as he pointed to where the man had been. When Sage turned to see who it was, no one was there.

"Well, he was here a minute ago....." The confused bartender said as he went back to work. Sage shrugged as he quickly downed the drink before he stood up and headed off to find his friends.

~~~~~~

What Ryo least expected was a totally drunk Sage to walk up to him.

"Come on birthday boy, lets dance." Sage said as he grabbed Ryo and dragged him of to the dance floor leaving a very amused Mia behind. Sage quickly climbed up onto the bar counter and pulled Ryo up with him.

"Oh dear Kento, Isn't that Sage and Ryo dancing on the table?" Cye said as he pointed to the dancing couple that was attracting everyone's attention. Unfortunately Cye was right, Sage and Ryo had become the life of the party. When the song ended, Sage gracefully flipped into the crowd, and Ryo lost sight of the blonde for the rest of the night. Not before Sage had kissed him a little deeper than he would have preferred, though.

Sage was now the center of attention, bounding around the party without a care in the world. Every time he moved, he was magically in a lip lock with someone. He felt bad at the thought of his blue haired archer at home, but another drink bumped that thought out of his mind. It was then a person approached Sage that seemed oddly familiar to the wasted blonde. As Sage took a closer look at the man shrouded in darkness, memories flooded his mind. As the alcohol began to kick in and things started to slowly fad into darkness, Sage uttered one last word.

"Cale......"

~~~~~~

"Kento, I'm gonna go to the bathroom with Mia. She wants to freshen up, and since I'm dressed as a girl, she decided that it was time for me to see what the ladies bathroom looks like." Kento couldn't help but grin as Mia grabbed Cye and dragged him off. Kento then went over to Ryo.

"Did you have fun dancing with blondie?" Kento asked with a smile. Ryo just glared back.

"No I did not. Though those rumors going around are true. Sage is one damn good kisser." Kento looked on in shock as Ryo began to laugh.

"Well it's true!" Ryo exclaimed at the moment Mia burst out of the bathroom and ran to them.

"Quick guys! When Cye and I were in the bathroom, we ran into Sekhmet who knocked Cye out from behind! We have to save him!" Mia exclaimed.

"Kento, go find Sage!" Kento began to run when a familiar snow-haired figure appeared before them.

"Don't waste your time looking for him Hardrock. We already have him." Dais motioned to the two exits in the club. At one stood Sekhmet carrying an unconscious Cye and at the other was Cale carrying a semi-conscious Sage, who was grinning like a hyena.

"Sage, try to get away!" Ryo called out as Sage shook his head.

"Can't move, too much to drink, and anyway, this is way to fun..." It was then Sage passed out once again and the 3 warlords disappeared into nothing.

~~~~~~

"Damn it!" Ryo said as he punched his fist into the wall.

"Calm down Ryo, you'll only hurt yourself if you keep doing this." Mia warned as Ryo nodded in understanding.

"Ryo, bud, at least we know where they are. I say we just go home and get Rowen, then we go get them, OK? They'd both hate to see you like this and you know it." Ryo sighed and said nothing. Mia set her hand gently on his shoulder and smiled.

"Lets go get Rowen and then you can go break them out." Mia began to lead them away to the car.

~~~~~~

Rowen sat at the house when he felt a tiny voice in his head mutter "Cale" and then fad away. Rowen quickly analyzed that it was Sage and they'd had a run in with some not too kind Warlords. When the door burst opened, Rowen lunged to the table and grabbed his yoroi, thinking the Warlords had come after him next. To his relief, the three figures in the door weren't the three Warlords, instead it was Ryo, Kento, and Mia. Sage and Cye were nowhere in sight.

"The Warlords have them don't they?" Rowen asked, fearing for his friends. All Ryo could do was nod in agreement.

"I'll quickly go get dressed." Rowen dashed up the stairs and changed. Sage's earlier healing made it so he felt fine. Rowen quickly appeared in the doorway and they all rushed out the door. They were going to save their friends.

~~~~~~

Cye woke up to find that he was in a hot, pitch dark room. He turned to his left and saw a chained up Sage. It was then that Cye realized that he was also chained up. A soft moan came from the body beside him and he turned to see Sage was slowly awakening. Sage's body was glowing faintly, in obvious protest to the lack of light.

"Cye, where are we?" Sage asked, stumbling slightly on words.

"I don't know. All I remember is being hit over the head with something hard and Mia screaming." Cye replied, wondering where exactly they were and why.

"Cye, I know where we are." Sage murmured, the look on his face frightening Cye. For as long as Cye could remember, he'd never seen Sage actually scared. Cye calmed down when he remembered that Sage was probably still slightly intoxicated, which was why he let his emotions slip.

"Where are we Sage?" Cye whispered, waiting for a reply.

"We're..............in Talpa's castle." Sage replied as Cye froze.

"Right before I fainted, I saw the person I fainted on and it was Cale. And then later, when I woke up and he still had me in his arms, Ryo told me to try to get away, but I couldn't because I drank too much...... and at the time enjoying being carried." Cye nearly smiled. Sage was caught because he never listens to Rowen.

"Sage, how much exactly did you have?" Cye questioned, trying to lighten the mood and rid the room of all the tension.

"Umm.... I had on shot to begin with, and then some guy gave me another, which was the strongest thing on the menu I believe. I think it was that thing where they mix all those different alcohol's together."

"Drink on the rocks?" Cye asked as Sage laughed.

"Cye, that's like, the wussiest thing on the menu." 

"Well it sure got to me when I had it." Cye muttered as Sage laughed some more.

"Oh well, who cares what it's called. And then after that, I had another drink. By then I'd lost basically all of my senses. And then Cale came right when I fainted."

" I was in the ladies room with Mia when Sekhmet came and bashed me over the head. My head still hurts too."'

"Well, I planned it to be like that." Both warriors turned to see a green haired man smiling in the doorway.

"Master Talpa told us to get at least one of you, and said that if we brought two, we'd get one to play with ourselves. He says that he only needs one bearer of an armor and that any other armors would be well appreciated, but the bearer is irrelevant. And he said that we could have whichever of you we want. And Cale says he has a score to settle with Halo, so I guess we get to play with him. Or should I say her?" Sekhmet said with a laugh. He could have cared less about which warrior was tortured which way, and Dais felt the same way. In fact, Sekhmet hadn't even wanted to do anything besides provide poisons if needed. But everyone had insisted that he help, so he said that he'd rough the two up a bit.

"What do you want from us?" Cye asked wearily.

"From Halo, nothing more then a good time. Well, that's what the others want. I prefer to just stay out of the whole thing. And for you Torrent, Master Talpa wants you for some experiment he's conducting. Don't ask me what, because that goes beyond my knowledge." A worried look appeared on Cye's face.

"What do you mean by wanting "A good time" from Sage?" All Sekhmet could do was shrug. He had no idea about what his friends planned to do to Halo. Except that he didn't want to be involved.

"I really don't want to do this, because as much as I hate you two for all the trouble that you have caused, I have a feeling that if I hurt you, Wildfire, Hardrock, and Strata will kill me."

"Hey Cye, I think I've found my favorite of the warlords, and the smartest." Cye smiled faintly at his friends remark.

"You didn't let me finish. But I have to hurt you anyway, because I don't wish to be tortured for disobeying orders." Sekhmet then pulled out a whip that had been covered with a special poison that made the person on the receiving end loose all muscle control. He'd been told to use it to keep them from escaping.

"Sorry..." He muttered as he whipped it across Cye then Sage. Cye cried out in pain though Sage said and did nothing to tell that he was feeling the same torture.

"All done, you've been poisoned. And if anyone asks, I did more to you then just whip you once, OK?" Sage nodded and Cye said nothing. It was then Sekhmet left the cell. 

"Sage, we have to get out of here." Cye said softly as Cye nodded in agreement.

"Cye, try as hard as you can to get the chains off." Cye nodded as he began to pull hard on the chains. Sage then closed his eyes and focused his strength to Cye. With their combined efforts, the chain broke and Cye tumbled down onto the floor, his wrists raw from the ordeal. He slowly stood up and unlocked the chains on Sage. Sage tried to stand up but failed, and Cye collapsed to the floor.

"Sage, the poisons to strong. I can't stand." Cye muttered slightly as Sage nodded his head in agreement. Without his armor and the water, poison effected Cye the worst.

"Don't worry Cye, I won't leave you. I think the door is this way, so follow me." Cye nodded as Sage began crawling across the room. He tried to follow Sage, but his body refused to move.

"Sage, I can't move. The poison's too strong." Sage turned to Cye, his own body weakening. He crawled back to Cye as his Kanji began to glow and he began to heal Cye. Cye's body finally allowed him to move slightly, but Sage was now weakened.

"Sage, you can't do this. You're only hurting yourself by trying to escape in this condition." Sage shook his head at Cye.

"Cye, we have to keep trying. We can't go down without a fight. I'll stop when I'm ready to stop." Cye sighed as he continued to follow Sage. Sage gently shoved open the door at the moment a sword slashed out into his leg. Sage let out a blood curdling scream from pain and surprise when he felt the cold metal penetrate his skin. Cye gasped in frozen fear, having never heard Sage scream before.

"A scream from your mouth feels good, Halo. You never scream. In fact, you never show emotions. This is an achievement." Sage said nothing, all his strength being used to keep himself from crying or screaming out in pain again. Sage felt a cold hand on his neck and then a sensation that sent chills up his spine. He could feel his sword wound healing slowly, coldness and a sense of fear coursing through his body. It was then he was grabbed by the waist and hauled upwards onto his feet. Strong hands pulled him up off the ground as Sage screamed out in his mind.

// Cye! Run!// before he disappeared, along with the warlord of darkness.

~~~~~~

Rowen, Ryo, and Kento all looked at each other at the same time.

"Did you guys just hear Sage yell out "Cye, run"?" Rowen asked as the other two nodded.

"That means that they're going to do something to Sage, doesn't it?" Rowen asked as Ryo shrugged.

"I don't know. To me all it is is a warning sign to hurry up and save them before something bad happens to them." Ryo said as Rowen's face drained of color.

"Ryo, Sage is already hurt. Can't you feel it? It's not that bad, but it's there." Ryo closed his eyes and concentrated on finding Sage's presence. Out of all the warriors, he and Sage had the strongest connection because Sage was wisdom and Ryo was the leader. Ryo continued searching as he felt a cold green aura which he recognized immediately to be Sage.

//Sage?// He asked gently as he waited for a reply.

//Ryo, is that you?// Ryo heard and couldn't help but smile. His friend was OK.

//Yeah Sage, it's me. Are you OK?//

//Not really. Cale used his sword on my leg and Cye and I were poisoned so we can barely move.// Ryo became severely worried at that moment.

//Where is Cye?//

//I don't know. We tried to escape but Cale came and slashed at my leg. He semi-healed it though. He took me away and I haven't seen Cye since. *Gasp*//

//Sage? Are you OK?//

//I'm fine. Cale, Dais, and Kayura are using a whip on me. I need to tell you something, so listen.// Ryo said nothing, knowing that Sage was getting too weak to keep up the connection.

//Sekhmet came and whipped us once to infect us with the poison. He said that Talpa was going to do some experiment on Cye. When you get here, don't worry about me. I want you to find Cye. I don't have my yoroi anymore. Cale took it and gave it to Talpa, so I'd be useless, anyway.// Ryo felt the connection begin to fade.

//Sage, what do they plan to do to you?//

//What they're doing now. Torture.// Sage cried out in pain once more.

//Ryo... I think Talpa....is going to......turn Cye....against you by combining.......the strength of our armors.......be careful....// and then Sage was gone.

"Ryo, what happened?" Mia asked while shaking Ryo. Ryo looked up at them blankly.

"I just talked to Sage. They're torturing him for fun. Sage said that he thinks that Talpa is going to brainwash Cye and force us to fight him. The only catch is that Talpa has Sage's armor.... well, yoroi. Sage thinks that the two armors strengths will be combined and put up against us." Everyone looked at him in horror.

"Did Sage say anything else about his condition, or what they're doing exactly?" Rowen asked softly. Ryo just shook his head.

"Not really. All he said was that Cale, Dais, and Kayura are using a whip on him. He's really weak at the moment. While we were talking, he cried out in pain sometimes. But that was the only sign that told me he was in a lot of pain."

"Well, I guess that settles that. Were going to Talpa's castle. One of us will sneak off and get Sage, while the other two confront the brainwashed Cye." Kento said as the others nodded in agreement.

"Mia, you stay with Kento and I, OK? Rowen, you go after Sage." Ryo had given up a long time ago in trying to prevent Mia from coming with them. It never worked out. And if you tried to force her not to come like Sage did, she got into trouble somehow. So it was better to avoid crisis by taking her withyou and guarding her at all costs. Ryo couldn't help but feel stupid for forgetting all about bringing White Blaze. He figured the tiger was smart enough to sense if they needed him, and would come at his own free will to help.

"Mia, be really careful. Stay with me at all costs. But if we run into battle with Cye, I want you to get away." Mia nodded.

"Then it's settled. Lets go." Ryo said as the 4 began to head for the castle.

~~~~~~

"Let me go you, you fiend!" Cye yelled as he was dragged off by Sekhmet.

"My my Torrent, you sure know how to cuss people out." Sekhmet said with a sarcastic laugh.

"Where are you taking me, and what are you planning to do to me?" Cye demanded.

"I don't plan to do anything to you. And I'm taking you to master Talpa." Sekhmet replied in a matter of fact voice.

"Where is Sage?"

"How am I supposed to know? Does it look like I'm near Halo? If you want my guess, I would say either a dungeon or Cale's room. Both equally filled with torture devices." Sekhmet said jokingly.

"Cale's room? Why would he be there?"

"your guess is as good as mine. All I know is that Cale is pissed because Halo almost always kicks his butt in battle and that Cale wants revenge. And that Kayura is stronger then anyone else, so if Cale wanted to hurt Halo, he'd have her beat him up a bit."

"And Dais?" Cye asked as Sekhmet shrugged.

"Dais really isn't one to care. If Cale wants to hurt Halo, he'll help just because Cale asked. He's actually a really nice guy when you're not on the receiving end of his blows. But his illusions can be used to harm someone. Like, now this is only an example, but if Kayura captured Wildfire and wanted to make love to him, but he refused because he's head over heals for that Mia girl, Dais could make Kayura look like Mia so that Wildfire would go with her. And when they finish, Dais could take off the illusion, and Wildfire would be forever tortured with the fact that he'd slept around with the bad guy. So he could torture Halo by doing something similar I guess."

"But Sage isn't with anyone." Cye pointed out as Sekhmet sighed.

"I told you that it was just an example." Sekhmet said flatly as he carried Cye into a throne room.

"Well, here we are. Guess this is good bye Torrent." Sekhmet said as he set Cye on a table and began to walk away.

"Sekhmet, were you talking with the bearer of the armor of Torrent?" A booming voice asked as Sekhmet's eyes widened.

" Yes sir, I'm sorry." Sekhmet said as he collapsed to the ground.

"You've been under my command for hundreds of years and you are talking with my worst enemy? You fool!" Sekhmet clutched his head as pain flowed through it. After a minute, the pain subsided.

"I understand Master. I will not speak with the enemy again. I apologize for my behavior." Sekhmet bowed before exiting the room.

//I'm sorry Torrent.// A voice softly muttered in Cye's mind.

//Sekhmet?// Cye questioned.

//Yes. I can talk to you through your mind link too, though it is rather difficult to do. Talpa can't hear us, so I thought that I must forgive you. Now I must go.// 

//Sekhmet?// Cye questioned, but by then the voice was gone. It was then an idea struck him. He focused his mind on one thing, and that was locating Sage Date.

//Sage!?// He called out loudly in mind, praying for a response.

//Cye........?// a soft voice moaned in such a low whisper that Cye could barely hear.

//Sage! Thank goodness you're OK!//

//Yeah, you just keep thinking I'm OK Cye.// Sage muttered.

//Sage, what are they doing to you?//

//Nothing I can't handle.// Sage murmured before he cried out.

//Sage, what's wrong!?//

//Don't worry 'bout me Cye. I don't want to burden you with my pain.// Cye could tell that Sage was trying to hide his pain from seeping through the link and at the same time, he was trying to hid his pain from showing to whoever was hurting him.

//Sage, I know this is hard for you to manage, so I'll leave you alone if you can answer this question. You are not going to die, are you?//

//.............// Cye didn't hear from Sage again after that.

"Oh dear……." Cye muttered as he turned to Talpa.

"Release Sage and me." Cye's order was responded to with a deep, throaty laugh.

"In another lifetime, Torrent. For now I'm going to brainwash you and make you fight your friends."

"Noooooo! I'll never fight my friends!" Cye yelled as Talpa laughed.

"I'm sorry Torrent, but you don't have avoice in the matter." 

"I figured that I didn't…." Cye muttered as he felt his body being lifted from the ground, all feelings in it lost at the moment. A wave of pain surged through his body, tearing at his inner soul, stripping him of his most important memories, leaving him bare of any senses of love. He watched as scenes flashed through his mind, planted there as a device to rid him of his sense of being, his urge to live and to fight a losing battle. He watched the Warlords beat Sage, and watched the Warrior of Light suppress any tears, his face clenched in pain, his body shuddering uncontrollably. And then, Cye was no more. 

'Torrent, what is your name?"

"What you just spoke, my master." Talpa grinned as Cye's gaze continued looking foreword.

"And what is your purpose in serving me?" 

"to do your bidding master." Talpa smiled.

"And what is your first task?" Cye continued to stare ahead.

"To capture the Ronin warriors, and if it has to be, destroy them." Talpa grinned.

"Good my servant. You are dismissed to do as you were told." Cye nodded and turned, walking away stiffly.

"Time to do Master Talpa's bidding." He murmured as he exited the room to begin his hunt for the Ronins.

~~~~~~

"Are you enjoying that Halo? Are you enjoying this pain and humiliation? That's a word I've felt many times, because of you." Sage struggled to avert the pain in his entire body, no part of his body left un-touched, no part left un-harmed. He did not like being violated in this way, by these people. It was horrible and disgusting, to feel hard hands roaming your flesh, un welcoming and un-wanted. Sage tried to ignore the pain and the idea that someone would do this to him, but it wasn't possible. Reality was all he saw. This pain continued for nearly two hours, till his tattered form was thrown into the confinements of a cell, ashen black, and barely large enough for him to sit up in.

"Oh god Rowen, If only I'd listened to you and not gotten drunk, none of this ever would have happened." He cried into his torn sleeves, wiping the sweat and blood off his face. He tried to take a deep, soothing breath, but the air in the room was so low, he failed to do so. Sage of the Halo did not like darkness, and cramped Quarters, especially right now. How he longed to have his secret lover nestled in his arms, or vice versa. He'd give anything for that feeling again. He deeply regretted the way he had shun the idea of cuddling, because he was too cold hearted to except love and kindness, something the archer didn't give up easily.

"What have I done to deserve this?" He didn't expect the harsh voiced response.

"You've made me a fool once too often Halo." Sage felt his hair being yanked as he yelped, and was dragged out of his container. And then, it was back to hell once more.

~~~~~~

Capture the Ronin Warriors. So easy, so simple, ha. Why did Master Talpa present me with such an easy task to prove my loyalty? Cye laughed to himself, as he walked out in the ebony clothes that he has been presented with. They were snug, and Cye could easily guess why, not that he minded that is. He could care less if eyes roamed his flesh. Not that they could touch, or do anything harmful to him. Master Talpa would simply not allow it. Cye quickened his pace out of the castle, ready to confront the other troopers. Indeed that time would come, and he was prepared with his armor. Well, his and Halo's armor. He actually felt pity on the blonde, well aware of what was happening to him at the present moment. He shrugged the thought off, and focused solely on the matter at hands. To find the other three weakling Ronins. And to think, he had called himself one of them not long ago. What a riot? Fighting for the good of mankind was the most ignorant thing he had heard of. But ruling them under the influence of Master Talpa? That was another. That granted freedom, and the ability to do as one pleased. Cye continued walking, until he ran right into Ryo of the Wildfire.

"Cye?" the two boys in front of him asked, as he laughed smugly.

"That I was not long ago." He watched as the two in front of him drew their weapons, prepared to fight.

"Hmmm, I've seen your armor, now its time for you to see mine. Armour of the Oasis, Dao Shi!" Ryo and Kento watched in shock as Cye's body was suddenly covered by a turquoise armor, the silver fin from a top the armour of Torrent seen here as well.

"Cye! Why are you doing this? Why are you helping Talpa?" Ryo questioned softly, pain evident in his eyes. Cye laughed under the helmet, mask plate covering his mouth and face. His eyes where crimson, matching the color of his hair.

"Why, you ask dear Wildfire? It's simple really. The power of this position. You are worthless with your little "Inferno" with out Halo and Torrent. You have no ability with out us to follow your every whim and surrender our strength to you. Your a worthless weakling." Ryo looked down at his sword, trying to keep his eyes from meeting Cye's.

"Ryo, he's a bad guy right now! He doesn't mean what he says!" Kento exclaimed as Ryo looked up, a single tear falling from his face.

"I..... I hurt you guys with Inferno. I... I call it on all the time, and I never think about you guys when I do." Kento sighed.

"Dude, you only do what you gotta do. If I was the bearer of Inferno, I'd do the same thing." Cye laughed.

"You? The bearer of Inferno? Highly un likely." Kento glared at him.

"And why not?" Cye smiled softly as his eyes locked with Kento's.

"Why not? Well, that's simple. Your but a coward, hidden behind brute strength, clutching it like your only life line, something to cast the world away behind with. No one will challenge the strong, the ones that they believe to be stronger, better people then themselves. But you are no better. What would you be without your strength? You have no brain to support yourself. You'd be but a weakling, like the rest of the world." Cye watched as Kento's self confidence crumbled, and he laughed. This was the most pleasurable thing he could ever remember doing. The putting down of others. It was ever so enjoyable. Now if only Strata was here as well....... Cye glanced around. Where was the last armour bearer?

"Where is Strata?" Cye asked as the two broken spirits glanced up at him from their position on the floor. They said nothing as Cye sighed in annoyance.

"Ugh, weakling fools. Can you not tell me where the last of your kind is?" they said nothing, preferring to remain silent on the ground.

"Fine, Ill go find him on my own, and have the guards dispose of you two." Cye briskly turned away, leaving the two alone, to wallow in self pity.

~~~~~

"Sage!" Rowen exclaimed as he saw the broken body lying limp in a tiny cell, unsuitable for someone of his height. He quickly pulled out an arrow and shot the lock to the room, watching it shatter into shards of metal. He immediately yanked open the iron clad door, and crawled in to grab Sage.

"Sage..... what did they do to you?" Rowen murmured as he assessed the damage that his lover had received. Sage barely had any clothes on, the dress that he had been wearing the day before, tattered into shreds, his hair coated in blood. Rowen pulled the body close, ignoring the blood covering his armour. As he hoisted the body up for a better grip, the shredded clothes did nothing to help hide the rest of his body. The slits showed off his thighs, scratches marking them, many deep enough to draw a decent amount of blood. Rowen didn't even want to go into the chest area of the blonde, covered in welts, along with scratches and scabs already forming.

"Sage, I'm going to get you home, we're going to save Cye, and were going to heal you and not let you die." Rowen said, nuzzling Sage's hair with his cheek, ignoring the fact that blood now caked the side of his face.

"How touching. Nothing like a secret lover declaring his love to a dying man." Rowen swirled around to face the speaker, and came face to face with Cale.

"Did you do this to him!?" Rowen demanded as Cale laughed.

"And if I did? What are you going to do about it?" Rowen growled as he set Sage on the ground, as gently as possible and drew his bow and arrow.

"What am I going to do about it? Im going to do this! ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" the archer yelled as the vortex formed at the tip of his arrow, flying at the un expecting warlord, causing him to be flung backwards into the wall.

"No one messes with MY Sage, and gets away with it." Rowen muttered as he grasped Sage into his arms again.

"Come on love, I'm getting you home. If you were to die on me, I don't know what I'd do." Rowen murmured into the unconscious boys ear, as he made his way out of the castle.

~~~~~

"Kento, no matter how weak we are, no matter how foolish we may be, we have to help Sage and Rowen." Kento nodded in agreement as Ryo helped him to his feet. They had already lost 10 minutes to the former bearer of Torrent, and they couldn't lose any more. In unison, they called on their armours, and began in pursue of their ex comrade. Within 5 minutes, they ran into Rowen, carrying Sage with him, but Cye was nowhere to be seen.

"Rowen! What have they done to Sage?" Ryo exclaimed as the archer shrugged, tears welling in his eyes.

"I....... I don't know. When I got there, he was like this, and then Cale came, and I used Strata on him and then I came out here and I need to get Sage Home, or to a hospital or somewhere, and I don't want him to die......" Rowen said through racking sobs of sadness and fear for his love's well being.

"Rowen, you take him home, and we'll bring Cye home." Rowen nodded as he proceeded to walk away.

"Be careful you two, one dying person is enough, thank you very much." They nodded as The bearer of Strata left the scene, the body of his best friend in deathly health.

"I hope Sage is OK......." Ryo murmured as a voice stepped in behind him.

"Oh yes, Halo, I recall what they did to him. They had me watch, a way to break me into becoming their slave. What can I say, it worked wonders." Kento and Ryo jerked around to see the grinning British boy behind them, still bearing the armour of Oasis.

"Cye, what has happened to you? Your friend is dying and you don't even care? Please don't tell us that they've taken away your feelings as well." Ryo asked as Cye laughed.

"Ugh, this is getting rather boring. When your playthings regain they're self esteem, you lose your interest. Why not get this over with while I still can?" Cye pulled back his spear.

"LIGHTENING MIRAGE FLASH!" He screamed as the Torrent of water and lightening flowed together, the lightening strengthening the waters effect on the two armours of the opposite elements. Both young men were flung back, slamming into the castle wall, and sliding down the side. Cye smirked as he approached the bodies, unable to contain his self pride for what he had accomplished. Unaware to the auburn boy, both were not yet unconscious.

"Cye......." Kento whispered through raspy breaths.

"I'm sorry.......... about this........ and.... that I... didn't pro....tect.... you at.... the bar....." His eyes rolled to the back of his sockets, as reality struck Cye dead on, and the armour faded away from his body.

"Kento..... Ryo..... what have I done?" He murmured as he kneeled next to the bodies, eyes full with tears.

"What......... have........ I..... done.......?"

End of Chapter 1

  
  



	2. Through Thick and Thin

OK, I did a disclaimer in the other chapter, does that mean that I have to do it in this one two? **Shrugz Oh well. I don't own the Ronin guys, and I reserve the right to dis Britney Spears (Sorry if I offend any Britney fans!) By the way, can someone tell me if I got Kento's last name right? Anyways, on with the story! (It's weird, I know. Everything I write is like that. I think that also falls under the warning category.) Oh, its now, in my opinion, sap. Or romance. Just warning anyone that's anti- mushy stuff!**

Through Thick and Thin

Chapter 2

"Sage, you have to get up!" Rowen had cleaned Sage's now nude form in the bathtub, and now was trying to stop the wounds from any further bleeding, though he doubted that possible. How someone could bleed so much went past his knowledge. He scrambled to bandage the wounds, but he'd have to cover the blonde's entire body for that to work. Normally, they'd have Sage heal the hurt party member, but the golden one had never been on the receiving end till now. This was definitely not a good thing. After managing to stop most of the bleeding, he set Sage's lifeless body across the bed.

"What did they do to you?" Rowen asked again to the crumpled form, but didn't expect to here a reply. He walked out of the room momentarily to compose himself and grab a washcloth to use if Sage started to bleed more. As he re entered, his face fell. Finally, he looked over the blonde's wounds, and realized that there were too many to count. Scratches and infected scabs were the least of his injuries. Worst being the stab wound to his abdomen and the numerous slash wounds of a whip marring his flesh. Rowen choked back tears at the sight of his lover in this condition.

"No one deserves this treatment. And I do mean no one." He slowly crawled in the bed, curling up to the swordsman and letting his tears flow freely.

~~~~~

What have I done?" Cye repeated over and over again, as if hopping that his apology would heal his friends. He glanced around the area, and spotted Mia, hiding fearfully behind a gingko tree, hoping that he hadn't noticed her.

// She must think that I'm still controlled.// Cye told himself as he walked over to her.

"Mia, I'm sorry about what I've done. The armour, it was controlling me, and I couldn't fight it till what Kento said, and.... and...." Mia set a gentle hand on his shoulder soothingly.

"Its OK Cye... Why don't we go see if they're Ok?" Cye nodded as he and Mia approached the still forms. Cye knelt down next to Kento as Mia did the same for Ryo.

"Kento, mate, you have to get up... you've got to!" Cye shook the bulky body rather harshly and urgently, trying to wake his comrade. The blue haired boy stirred slightly, eyes cracking open with double effort.

"Cye?" He murmured slightly as Cye grinned.

"Your OK!" Cye exclaimed as he hugged the muscular boy. Kento squirmed under the steely grip, unusual for the quiet Brit.

"I'm so sorry about what I did, I can't believe that I was that easy to control. I should have put up some resistance, I was so weak, I can't believe I... oh my..." Kento slowly, almost timidly, replied to the auburn boy's hug, wrapping strong arms around the smaller figure.

"Don't worry brat, not your fault. There was no major harm done. I say we just grab Ryo, and get home to make sure that Sage isn't dead or something." Cye nodded as he pulled away from the warmth of the larger boy. He crawled over to Mia and Ryo, pulling the bearer of Wildfire into his arms and rising to his feet.

"Come on Mia, we're going to go home, and well make sure he's OK there." Mia nodded as Cye turned to Kento.

"And you're going to the doctor as well. We have to make sure that there are no internal wounds, or a concussion or something that can be fatal if left untreated." Kento sighed, but didn't argue with Cye. He knew that the Brit was not in the mood to fight, after what had just happened to him and the rest of their team.

~~~~~

When Sage finally awoke from his unconscious state, the first thing he felt was a rush of pain filling his body. He gasped in un prepared shock at the feelings in him. And the next thing he regained was the unwanted memories flooding his mind and filling him with fear.

"Sage?" Sage cracked his violet eyes open, to be directly in the line of vision with a set of Midnight blue ones. He gasped in surprise at the closeness of the blue haired archer and pulled away slightly. Well, tried to pull away. The sudden movement of his fresh wounds caused him to instead gasp, and fall forward on Rowen, trying to keep calm and not scream out in pain. Gentle arms lied him back down on the bed, as he looked up through hazed eyes.

"Rowen... Why did this happen? What did I do? Am I that horrible of a person? That evil to deserve to be lowered to... to this?" Sage gestured to his body had touching the sword wound as he winced in pain. Rowen quickly shook his head in reply to Sage's words.

"Sage, you are not evil, and you did nothing to deserve this in the slightest. No one in your position would deserve what happened. You did nothing, nothing, to deserve this. Please remember that." Sage stared aimlessly at the ceiling, eyes void of all feelings. Rowen looked on, sadness apparent on his face.

"Sage, please don't let all your feelings go and become a wall. You show so little to begin with, to lose the rest would to be to lose you in general. And I don't want that." Sage turned his head slightly, so that his blank eyes met the midnight ones full of compassion and sorrow.

"Why not? After what happened to me, does it really matter?" Rowen grabbed Sage's face between his palms, ignoring the fact that the blonde's face was scrunched in pain.

"Sage, don't you ever, EVER say that! You damn well know better then that! Its a well known fact that we all care about you, and just because some damn enemies decided that it would be fun to screw around with you..." Sage winced. Rowen didn't realize how close he was to the truth. Sage had been screwed around with, literally. But the archer wasn't aware of that fact.

"Rowen, you're hurting me." Sage pointed out softly, as Rowen released the blonde's face, after letting a finger gingerly trace the bruised lips. As gently as Rowen could muster, he let is lips meet Sage's, tasting the copper of blood from the cuts where his lover's lips had been bitten. Sage's eyes widened, as he tried to pull away out of instinct. Rowen pulled away slowly, looking the blonde in the eyes.

"Sage, you were only beaten, why wont you let me kiss you? What's the matter?" Sage turned away, skin paling.

"Rowen, just leave me alone. Please." Sage pleaded as Rowen shook his head.

"Not in your condition." Sage sighed.

"I'll be fine." Rowen looked at him.

"Sage, look at yourself. Can you honestly say that?" sage looked down as unshed tears formed at the corner of his eyes.

"Your right." He said hoarsely, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. His body quivered slightly, in fear, and in anger. Anger at himself for not listening to Rowen, anger at the warlords for doing this to him, and angered at his armour for deserting him.

"I'm sorry Rowen, its all my fault. I should have listened to you. Just because the drinks were free, doesn't mean that I should have excepted them." Rowen nodded in agreement.

"Well, you sure learned your lesson. Next time we go out..."

"There isn't going to be a next time." Rowen gave him an awkward look.

"Don't let this one bad experience make you never want to do it..."

"There isn't going to be a next time." He said in a final voice. Rowen was about to question the blonde again, but the deep sorrow hidden within those violet depths silenced him.

"Sage, I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you when you needed it the most. I really am." Sage let his head hang.

"Rowen, you didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault this happened to me. I let it happen, not you. You were sick, there was nothing that you could have done." Rowen shook his head in protest to Sage's words.

"Correction love, there is nothing that anyone could have done." Sage didn't reply as he looked down and finally realized that he was nude. He blushed slightly and pulled the blanket tighter around him. Rowen crawled up next to Sage, lying down next to his lover.

"Sage, I know that the wounds are fresh, and so is the pain in your heart, but I also want you to know that we're here for you. And if you don't want to talk to me about what happened, talk to Mia or one of the other guys. I don't want you to suffer by keeping your emotions locked in." Rowen ran a hand through sage's golden locks, brushing the hair out of the eyes of his loved one.

" Please promise me that." Sage didn't move, he sat still and gave no response to his blue haired companion. Rowen sighed softly as he noticed that blood was seeping through one of Sage's arm wounds.

"Love, you're bleeding again. Let me help you with that." Rowen stood up out of the bed, as he walked into the bathroom to get the bandages and washcloths. When he returned, he gently took Sage's arm in his hands, and undid the soil bandages. He winced to himself as he examined the numerous wounds the single bandage had been covering. Grasping the damp washcloth, he gently cleansed the wounds, hoping that it wouldn't hurt Sage too much. But as he looked in the eyes, now their normal hard, slate gray tone, he realized that the blonde was perfectly still, not giving off a single hint of even feeling the administration. Rowen wrapped the injury with a bandage, tying it tightly to help stop the flow of blood.

"Sage, you still with me?" Rowen asked, worried at the absence of movement on the swordsman. He slowly waved a hand in front of Sage, and still heed no response. Worry crossed his face as he began to panic.

"Sage, are you OK? Sage? Sage?" Sage's head slowly turned to face Rowen's, eyes locking.

"Rowen, please go away. You deserve someone better. Someone who hasn't been demoted to this worthless fool." Sage stood up slowly on weak, trembling feet. His head buzzed and he could feel wounds tear opened at the new movement, but he forced himself to walk out of the room, leaving a bewildered and confused Rowen lying on the bed.

"Sage! That's not true! Wait!" He leapt to his feet and ran off in search of his lover. He found Sage a few minutes later, collapsed on the living room floor, back propped up on the couch. He was clutching his stomach as blood seeped through his fingers, coursing through the freshly torn wound.

"Sage, you are in no condition to run off like that! Your body can't handle it!" Rowen slid his hands behind Sage, and hoisted the other boy into his arms, trying his best to ignore the fact that Sage was still nude, and his hands were now stained with the swordsman's blood. As he walked off to clean up Sage, the door flung ajar to reveal the other troopers, Ryo being carried in the arms of the tear stained Brit.

"Man, Rowen, what are you doing to Sage?" Kento asked as Rowen blushed.

" I was about to re dress the wound on his abdomen." Rowen said in embarrassment as Kento laughed.

"Cye's making us go to the hospital. Bring Sage too. He looks like shit." Sage shook his head rapidly in reply.

"No, he's not coming." Cye said faintly, eyes locked with Sage's in some form of understanding.

"But Cye, I have to go, and he's a LOT worse then me." Kento pointed out.

"Rowen, stay here and take care of Sage. Were leaving. Sage doesn't want to come. He doesn't have to." Kento looked on in bewilderment but said nothing as Cye lead them out of the house.

~~~~~

"Well Mr. Mouri, your friend here has a minor concussion, and that's about it. Just give him plenty of rest and he should be fine in a few days." Kento grinned at the declaration.

Told you I was fine Cye!" 

"Mr. Rei Faun, this is not to be taken lightly! You need plenty of rest to ensure a healthy recuperation!" The doctor exclaimed as Kento sighed.

"Fine fine fine. I'll rest and be careful." Kento rolled his eyes as he began to walk out of the room.

"Mr. Mouri, I doubt he is the kind to listen to a professional opinion. Please make sure that he stays off his feet and rests as much as possible. And his blood sugar is a bit high. Have him lay off of the sweets." Cye grinned brightly.

"I'll do that sir. Thank you." Cye bowed his head slightly, something unusual for him and his British customs. He then dashed off in pursuit of his blue haired friend. After finding Kento, the two began their search to find the room Ryo and Mia were in. Ryo had awakened during the trip over, and was drowsy and had a severe headache, leaving them to only guess what had happened. Finally, arriving at room 8, the furthest away from the waiting room (They had been in room one) they found their auburn friend, a long with a very peeved Ryo. Obviously the onyx haired boy did not take to kindly to doctors.

"I'm fine, I've just got a little headache. Some nice Tylenol will clear that all up." Ryo stood up, but feel weakly on Mia, who caught him.

"And will the Tylenol take care of that as well?" She teased as Ryo glared at her. She helped him to the patient bed, as the doctor came up to him.

"OK Mr. Sananda, give me your arm." Ryo looked at the blood pressure device in horror.

"What the hell is that thing?" the Doctor looked on in confusion as Ryo pulled his arm close to his chest in a protective stance. Mia couldn't help but burst into laughter. Ryo and doctors were almost as bad as Sage and them. The only difference really, was the fact that Sage actually scared the doctors away.

"Ryo, it doesn't hurt. All it does is take your blood pressure." Ryo looked at it with a hint of mistrust in his eyes.

"I still don't want that thing near me." Ryo said, pointing at the machine. Mia sighed.

"Ryo, if it'll help, I'll have my blood pressure taken to show you that it doesn't hurt." Ryo nodded at the idea as Mia turned to the doctor.

"I'm sorry, but he's never really been to the doctor other then to get shots. Take my blood pressure first... please?" The doctor nodded as he led her over to the bulky machine. She gently put her arm in it, as it began to squeeze down on her arm. She turned to smile at Ryo.

"See? Everything's just fine. It's not hurting me at all." Ryo nodded as he watched the machine squeeze harder and harder on her arm. She tried to keep a calm, smiling face, but it was to no avail as the machine squeezed to the point of pain.

"Umm.... doctor? I think theirs something a matter with the machine." She yelped as it hit her pressure point. The doctor quickly ran up and stared at the machine. Mia looked up at him, anger flaring in her eyes.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" the doctor nodded fiercely.

"I'll go get a technician." He quickly bolted out of the room.

"Well, that's fine and dandy, but that's not going to help the fact that I have no blood circulation, and I am fond of my right arm. I would like to keep it, working at all." She turned to Ryo, who had a grin plastered to his face.

"What are you smirking about?" She demanded as he began to laugh harder.

"And to think, that could have been me if I had listened to you." Mia said nothing in reply as she looked at her purple arm.

"Could someone help me here?" She asked as she looked at Cye, who was crawling on the floor.

"Cye, what are you doing?" She asked in confusion, as Cye smiled triumphantly.

"Ah ha!" He quickly pulled out the cord to the machine. It slowly went back to normal, loosening its grip on Mia's arm. Mia yanked it out as she began to massage the arm, trying to get the blood to flow again. After she regained feeling to her arm, she grabbed Ryo and dragged him out of the room. She stomped down the hallway and turned to the people at the desk.

"I nearly lost my arm to that damn blood pressure machine. I refuse to pay for the checkups." She began to walk away as she turned to look at them.

"Oh, yes, and have a nice day." She dragged Ryo away as Kento grabbed one of the lollipops and followed her out, along with Cye.

~~~~~

Rowen sat intently, watching sage in the depths of dreams. Sage stirred slightly in his drugged slumber, murmuring intangible words in his sleep. Rowen smiled faintly, brushing the locks of gold from Sage's face. Sage instinctively curled closer to Rowen's warmth, as Rowen continued the administration. After a while he stopped, hearing the car pull up in the driveway. He stood up to go and meet the others, but the moment he left Sage, the blonde began to whimper in his sleep. Rowen sighed softly as he made his way back to the bed, crawling in next to the blonde. Sage's whimpers in protest ceased as he pressed himself to Rowen. The azure boy gingerly spread one arm across the blonde, who welcomed the touch. Rowen jerked his head up as he heard movement outside of the door. The door slowly slid open a crack, and Cye glanced in, a smile spreading across his face.

"I was just...." Rowen began as Cye shook his head.

"Don't worry Rowen. I already know. Sage had to think about something to get his mind off of what was happening when they tortured him. And guess what it was?" Cye slowly began to shut the door.

"Don't worry, I wont tell." The door shut soundlessly behind Cye, as footsteps were heard growing dimmer. Rowen glanced down at the angelic face below him, thoughts running rapidly through his mind. In Sage's deepest, darkest moments, when he had been cast into the turmoils of hell, he had thought of Rowen? Not his family, not his precious Kendo, but instead of the blue haired archer? Unbelievable. Unthinkable. The cold hearted, self-centered blonde had thought of him, the shy, wussy, traumatized from his past, little archer in the pits of depression? This was beyond comprehension. His intelligence of 250 couldn't understand this, this newly acquired fact.

"Sage, do you really care about me that much?" Rowen questioned the drugged form. Sage moaned softly in what Rowen took as a response, Sages head snuggled against Rowen's chest in emphasis. Rowen laughed slightly as he looked up at the ceiling. For his birthday, sage and Cye had taken the liberty to put stickers of stars that glow in the dark on his ceiling. When he walked into the room and saw it glowing, he had freaked. Sage and Cye had come in laughing, and pointed out exactly what the glowing things in his room were. He had laughed when he figured it out, and had never taken them down. He kinda liked them and they reminded him of Sage, even though Cye had done it too. He wondered to himself of what had persuaded Sage to go along with it and help Cye. It just seemed very, well, un Sage-like to say the least. Rowen shrugged off the thought as he felt Sage stir unexpectedly. He turned his attention to the blonde who moaned softly again.

"What's the matter Seiji?" Rowen asked aloud as Sage whimpered slightly, jerking to the side, un able to awaken past the drug filled Haze he was swimming in. Rowen looked on in a bit of confusion, unsure of what to do until Sage began to thrash wildly, murmuring and whimpering intangible words. Rowen grasped the blonde, and was about to shake him, when Sage's words because readable.

"No..... please... only for Rowen...no more..."

"Only for me what? Sage, what are you saying? Why don't you make any sense! Ugh!" Rowen shook the blonde rapidly, forgetting the injuries covering the Sage's body. As the swordsman's wounds re opened for what seemed like the hundredth time, the blonde sat up with a gasp as he collapsed back onto the bed.

"Sage, what happened!?" sage's eyes met Rowen's for a fleeting instance, at which he broke the lock and turned away.

"Nothing..." He murmured as Rowen looked on with anger.

"Sage, is that your excuse for everything?! That's all I hear from your mouth! Well, something has to be wrong or you wouldn't BE like this!" Sage took a deep breath, trying to stop the blood flow and talk to Rowen at the same time.

"Well, what if there is something wrong? Does it really matter to you? It's not your life that's been ruined, it's not your pain! If I want your help, I'll ask for it. But it seems to me that I haven't, so you have no right to yell at me about what's not your business!" Rowen was taken a back for a moment, until fire burned in his midnight blue eyes.

"Not my business! This is damn well my business! Anything wrong with you I make an effort to make my business. And I can damn well tell you that what happened to you was not just torture. What happened Koibito? What did they do to you?" Sage choked back sobs and held back tears.

"Rowen, I want to be alone, please." Rowen wrapped his arms around Sage, and held them there for a few moments.

"Sage, you're not alone. That's my point. And you never will be as long as I'm standing on this green Earth." He kissed Sage's forehead, and let his lips linger for a brief moment. Finally, he forced himself to pull away from his pale lover, and concentrate on fixing up the wound.

"Sage, stay here and move as little as possible, kay?" The blonde nodded faintly. Rowen stood up and went to get more bandages. After fixing Sage up and getting him back to bed, Rowen couldn't resist but to loosely tangle his arms around Sage's form. At first Sage hesitated at the touch, but eventually he came to except, and even welcome the touch of his lover. 

"Rowen, I'm sorry about earlier...." Sage murmured through a yawn, head resting on Rowen's chest. Rowen shook his head.

"Don't be sorry. Yesterday you were in hell, now you're free. Its gonna be weird, its gonna be traumatizing, but you'll... WE'LL get through this. Together." He took sage's hand in his, and gently kissed each one of the fingers tenderly. Sage's eyes slowly fluttered shut and he sighed in contentment at where he was and what he was doing. Rowen smiled to himself. Such little things had never made Sage this happy before. It was nice to be able to pleasure the blonde in such simple ways.

"Sage, Ai Shitaru..." Rowen murmured as Sage nodded.

"I know Rowen, I know." 

~~~~~

"Cye, bud, wanna go outside? You can help teach me how to swim." No reply. Kento tapped his foot in frustration. After Cye had attended to everyone else's needs, he had then gone off and taken drastic measures to lock himself in his room.

"Come on Cye! Ryo and I don't blame ya, so why do you blame yourself?" Again, he heard no reply to his question. Finally, out of sheer desperation, not one to invade on others privacy, he pulled out the key to the room he shared with Cye and unlocked it. He slid the door open gently and quietly, peering inside for any sign of his friend. He opened the door the rest of the way, and realized that the auburn boy was nowhere to be found. Glancing around the room in confusion, his eyes set on the ajar window.

"Damn..." He murmured as he opened up his mind link to tell his other friends about Cye's disappearance.

//Guys, Cye's gone. And I don't know where. He left through the window.// Kento said sullenly, well, as sullen as the demolisher of food could get.

//Shh....// Came his reply, adding to his confusion.

//What?//

//Sage is asleep, and if he finds out that Cye's gone, he's gonna wanna help find him. And Sage is in no condition at all to get up, let alone search for Cye.// Rowen pointed out, but a stern voice tended to disagree.

//Thank you for your concern Rowen, but I'll be fine. I'm helping you find Cye.// Rowen shook his head, and Kento could tell that the argument had been taken to their real forms and voices.

//Kento, I'll help you find him.// Ryo said softly to the muscular boy via the mind link.

//Thanks bud. I don't think Sage and Rowen will be of any help, fighting like that.// Ryo nodded in response, thought the blue haired boy couldn't tell.

//Hey! I wanna go!// Rowen exclaimed as Kento laughed along with Ryo.

//Rowen, if your so eager to go, why don't you go search with Kento, and I'll make sure Blondie doesn't do anything stupid.// the sense of Rowen smiling was overwhelming.

//Ryo, stay in your room. I have to tell you some things first.// 

//kay. Kento, you go look for Cye now, Rowen will catch up later.//

//Can do. I'm off to find the British brat!// Kento said as he left the room and began his search for his comrade.

~~~~~

"Ryo?" Rowen asked softly as he peered into the onyx boy's room.

"Yeah, I'm here. What did you need to tell me?" Rowen sat next to Ryo on the bed.

"Well, Sage's a little.... well.... out of it if you catch my drift. And he won't tell anyone what happened. And Cye knows, but he doesn't want to go against Sage's wish and tell us. So, try to get him to talk. And he's blaming himself. I'm gonna go help find Cye, you try to get him to open up, OK?" Ryo nodded.

"One last thing. We didn't wanna risk upsetting his wounds, so he's nude under the blanket. Just warning ya." Ryo nodded once again in response to the azure boy.

"I'll take care of him. You just go help find Cye." 

"Thanks Ryo." Rowen murmured as he quickly made his way out of the room.

"How hard can it be to take care of him? He can barely walk, let alone cause any trouble." Ryo muttered to himself as he made his way out of the room, and soon realized that Sage was harder to take care of then he thought. A lot harder.

~~~~~

Ryo walked into Sage's room, prepared to talk to the blonde, when he noticed that Sage was nowhere in sight.

"Sage?" He questioned, checking the bathroom for any sign of the blonde. He found no hint that the blonde had even been there. He glanced at the bed when something caught his eyes.

"A note?" Ryo asked himself as he proceeded over to the bed to retrieve the slip of paper. He glanced over it, reading it to himself.

Got bored. Gone out to meditate. Don't know when 'Ill be back

-Sage

Ryo groaned at the moment he read the note. So he was wrong, Sage could be a lot of trouble to take care of. There was really nothing he could do but try to find the other swordsman. Sighing, he headed to the door in pursuit of his comrade.

~~~~~

"If I was a Cye, where would I be?" Kento asked himself as a light triggered in his mind.

"The lake!" He exclaimed as he dashed off in the direction of Cye's favorite spot in the world. Sure enough, when he got there, the auburn Brit was swimming among the fishes, fully clothed but his shoes. In fact, he had run out without shoes, so that was actually quite irrelevant.

"Cye! Why did you run away?" He called out, then scolded himself for being so stupid. Why are you upset? Hmm.... that's a thinker. Good one Kento.

"Kento, go away." Cye murmured from in the middle of the lake, as Kento walked over to the edge of the water.

"Come on Cye. Even SAGE is taking this better then you are now. You were fine when we got home, what happened?" Cye slowly swam over to Kento, and climbed out, timidly sitting next to his best friend.

"Reality struck. I. I didn't think that it was my fault, 'til I realized what Sage went through. That, that was not his fault. He couldn't help what they did to him. He tried to fight as much as he could, and not give them the satisfaction of seeing him squirm. But me, I didn't really fight back. I was too worried about not getting hurt, that I didn't give resistance like I should have." Cye hung his head in shame as Kento set a hand warmly on Cye's back.

"Its OK bud. It doesn't matter if you fought back or not. What matters is that Ryo and I are fine now, not what you could have done differently. I say, screw the "what ifs" and look in to the future!" Cye couldn't help but laugh at his comrade's enthusiasm.

"Kento, you are a riot sometimes." Kento grinned.

"And damn proud of it!" Cye sat smiling for mere moments, until he thought again of the situation.

"Kento, I did still hurt you guys. If I didn't, you wouldn't have a concussion. Who knows what is going on in Ryo's body? Mia took us away before we could find out. I failed you all by surrendering. I'm so awful." Tears formed at the corners of Cye's eyes. His green eyes shined with Crystalline, yet unshed tears.

"Cye, bud, don't cry." Kento slowly wrapped his arms around the small body, and held Cye for a moment, letting him shed all his tears.

"Kento..." Kento looked down at the thin boy.

"Yeah..." He asked but he got no response. Instead he got a sweet, tender kiss to his lips, timid and soft. He gasped when Cye pulled away, in shock, not repulsion. Sweet little Cye though, was not one to catch on fast.

"I'm so sorry Kento! I shouldn't have done that! I had no reason to and I know it was wrong and please don't be mad at me and, and....." Cye's frantic apologies were cut off by Kento's lips meeting his own. At first Cye's eyes were wide, unsure of what this meant. But the moment he realized that the kiss was true, and Kento meant it, he calmed down and returned it with much eagerness. Finally, only for the lack of air, did the two pull away.

"I wonder if Sage and Rowen do this kind of thing, or how they got together?" Cye pondered to himself, not realizing that he had said it aloud until it was too late.

"Sage and Rowen are together?" Kento asked amidst shock as Cye blushed and hung his head.

"Oh my! I broke my promise! I told them that I wouldn't tell!"

"Sage... and Rowen?" Cye glared.

"Yes silly. They've been together for a while. They just didn't think we'd approve of their choice, so they hid it from us."

"You mean, cold hearted bastard, and shy little archer, together? Damn." Cye nodded.

"Haven't you wondered why they're always together?" Kento shrugged in response.

"Best friends are usually together." Kento pointed out as Cye shrugged.

"Your right. Kento, I really wanna know. Did you mean anything at all by that kiss? Or was it just to shut me up?" Kento paused before answering.

"Well.... umm... Well, I ummm... I like you Cye! I mean, who doesn't? Your nice, kind, sweet, caring..."

"Blows up their friends, blows peoples secrets...." Kento pressed his lips to Cye's again.

"That one was to shut you up." Cye laughed.

"Kento, lets go home. I have some apologizing and explaining to do." Kento nodded and stood up, extending his arm to Cye, and helping his friend to his feet.

"Lets go."

~~~~~

"Sage! What are you doing here?" Sage bowed slightly to the slender brunette before him.

"Malandriana, I came to see if you needed any help." She smiled sweetly to the blonde.

"Oh Sage, you do too much. And you don't look too well. Maybe you should get some rest. What happened by the way?" She asked in concern, as she observed the wounds covering sage's body.

"I was in a car crash. Its nothing." She nodded slightly, obviously not excepting the answer though.

" Sage, Misty had her puppies today. She didn't make it.... I tried! I really did! But it wasn't enough. After what she'd been through, it's a wonder she'd survived long enough to start the birthing process. And All but one of the puppies died. He's a survivor, I can tell you that. We nearly pronounced him dead, but then he started to breath again. He's a miracle puppy. That much is obvious. But he's still not out of the woods yet. He's too young to see, and he doesn't have a mother to get milk from." Sage nodded softly. Misty was a great dog, she was a Golden retriever. She had been so beautiful, it was a shame she and her puppies had to died. Well, her legacy would live on though. He'd make sure of it.

"Malandriana, may I see the puppy?" Malandriana nodded.

"You work wonders with animals, maybe it's for the best. Even though you're just an assistant, your work is amazing." She gently took his hand in hers and led him into the backroom, where a tiny basket, filled with blankets, sat on the counter top. She motioned for Sage to go to it, and he did so with great carefulness.

"May we be alone?" He asked softly as she nodded. She took one last glance at the boy and the basket, before leaving the room. Sage quickly undid the blankets in the basket, to reveal a tiny puppy, pinkish fur matted and wet from the cleaning process.

"You are just the cutest thing in the world. Yes you are." Sage murmured as he placed his index finger on the back of the pup. Summoning the little strength that he needed from Halo, he proceeded to heal the puppy with the utmost care. He stayed the rest of the day, cleaning animal cages, playing with them, feeding them, everything in the life of a veterinary clinic. As night fell though, he spoke to Malandriana about shutting down the place for her. She nodded as she grabbed her coat and left. The nightshift would watch the animals.

Sage slowly made his way to the back room, and picked up the basket. Then he walked over to the food supply, and grabbed 2 weeks worth of the puppy formula. Pulling out his wallet, he left the right amount of money, before leaving to go home, puppy in hands.

~~~~~ 

"When Sage gets back, I'm going to kill him dead. D.e.a.d. Dead." Rowen grumbled as he paced through the living room, in front of the door. Slowly the door opened and Sage limped in, immediately pounced on by a peeved Rowen.

"Where the hell were you! I was worried out of my mind, thinking that you were stupid enough to go out there and be attacked by the dynasty, in the condition you were in, and that you could be dead on the side of the road for all I know, and, and..... I was worried...." sage looked nervously between the misty eyed Rowen, and the rest of his friends in the room.

"Umm... If it's any consultation, we know." Sage turned his attention away from either of those things, and made his way, slowly and limping, to the kitchen. Everyone followed him in, to see that he was heating some formula.

"Sage, what are you doing?" Rowen asked as he watched Sage place the formula in the microwave. Sage ignored the question as he instead walked over to the counter that held the basket.

"Cye, come here. I need your help." He said flatly as Cye glanced at the rest before walking up to Sage. Sage pulled the puppy out slowly and carefully, before handing it to Cye. Cye gasped, as he looked wide-eyed at the puppy.

"Oh my! It's so adorable! Sage, it's so young! How dare you take it away from its mother!" Sage pulled the formula out of the microwave, and filled an eyedropper with it, before taking the puppy from Cye and beginning to feed it.

"Lets call him an orphan." Cye looked at sage and the puppy in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Sage glanced up at the British boy.

"His mother died at the clinic, he's the only surviving puppy." Cye gasped in shock and horror, as did the others.

"Clinic? Dead? No more puppies?" Cye managed to choke out as Sage nodded.

"I never told you this. No one knows. But as a side job, since the dojo doesn't pay enough, I work in a veterinary clinic. I'm just an assistant though. But everyone says that I'm so good with animals, that I should be the actual vet. But, there was this dog, Misty. She was pregnant and caught in a fire for hours. When we got her out, she was barely alive. We tried to help her, but this morning, when she went into labor, she couldn't take it. She and all but this puppy died.

"What's his name?" sage shrugged.

"I was thinking something like Miracle, because that's what he is." Cye nodded.

"That's sweet."

"Well, Cye, I actually got the dog for you, I just need to take care of it 'til it's older, and can at least see." Cye smiled, glowing with happiness at his new pet. Sage's eyes lit up for a moment.

"Hey, Cye, how about we name him Rain? As in a lucky rainbow? And it works well since he's yours." Cye couldn't help but grin as sage finished feeding the pup and handed Rain to Cye, who began to cradle the small being.

"Sage, thank you so much!" Cye cooed as he pet the puppy gently.

"Cye, for now it'll have to stay in Rowen's and my room. I'm awake all night anyways, so it doesn't matter. It has to be feed about every two hours." Cye nodded in satisfaction as he handed the puppy to sage.

"There you go. Now Rain, be a good boy to your two uncles. Don't keep them up too late, got it?" The boys laughed at Cye's words, as Sage placed the sightless puppy back into its basket, and folded the blankets around it.

"Rowen, will you carry Rain upstairs for me?" Sage asked as Rowen nodded.

"You and the puppy need rest. I still can't believe that you left. When I got home and Ryo told me that you were gone, and I was freaking, I spilled it to him. And I found out later that Cye told Kento too, so everyone knew by then." The two entered their room as Rowen set the puppy's basket near Sage's side of the bed, then went to help the blonde out of his clothes.

"Sage, when we force you into the nude, its usually for a good reason. Well, unless it's me... but still!" Rowen unzipped sage's jacket, and realized that the jacket was the only thing Sage had on. He looked up at the swordsman in slight confusion.

"I didn't want to re tear my wounds. It already hurts enough." Rowen scowled at the blonde as he undid the restraining jeans from him. Sage watched nervously as Rowen slid his pants down his waist, leaving him clad in only boxers. The moment Rowen reached for his boxers though, sage pulled away, eyes wide with fear. Sage stepped back and stumbled, crashing onto the floor, but ignoring the pain throbbing in his rear.

"Sage! Are you OK? What was that for?" Rowen quickly ran to Sage's side, kneeling next to the blonde. Sage shivered in fear, and turned away from the archer, refusing to face Rowen in the eyes.

"Sage, look at me!" Slowly and timidly, nearly frozen in fear, Sage turned, violet meeting blazing blue.

"Sage, why are you scared of me? Why won't you accept my touch? Did I do something wrong? Did I hit a wound? Or was it something different?" Sage's breathing was labored, as he tried to free himself from the boring eyes of his lover. Sighing, Rowen ran slender fingers through his un-kept hair, trying to keep the persistent locks out of his face.

"Sage, tell me... please. I can't bear to see you like this, to have you fear me. I, I've already had too much rejection in the love and caring department, your the only thing I have left. I don't want to lose you too." Tears formed at the edges of Rowen's eyes, threatening to burst through. Sage stumbled to his feet, blank, emotionless eyes meeting Rowen's as he clumsily ran out of the door.

"Sage...." Rowen murmured as he watched the blonde leave the room. At the departure of the blonde, the puppy began to whimper faintly. Rowen sighed and approached the dog, and began to rub its back soothingly. Eventually it hushed, as Rowen's drooping eyelids succumbed over him, and he felt himself urged to enter sleep. Numbly he walked over to the bed, kicking off his shoes and not bothering to change as he climbed into the bed and drifted into sleep.

~~~~~

"Ryo... can I talk to you?" Ryo's left eye cracked open as he looked up at his guest.

"Sage?" Ryo muttered as he rose, sitting up, back resting on the bed pillows.

"Sure. What did you want to tell me?" Ryo couldn't help but notice that the blonde was clad in only a pair of silken green boxers, and scolded himself for even thinking about that fact. Sage was with Rowen. Enough said. Sage hung his head as he stood timidly in the doorway.

"Well...." Ryo beckoned for Sage to sit with him on the bed. Sage slowly did as he was told, sitting next to the raven-haired boy.

"Well, what is it?" Sage turned to Ryo with bleary eyes, dark bags under them from lack of sleep.

"I... I have to tell someone. As much as I don't want to, I have to tell someone. And well, I can't face Rowen with the truth. I can't face anyone really. I don't want to, but I have to. So I figured it be you because you are the leader and I'm hoping that you'll understand, and....."

"Sage?" the wielder of Halo turned to face Ryo.

"What did they do to you?" Ryo was unprepared for Sage to cling to him, sobbing his eyes out.

"Ryo... they, they raped me. And they beat me, and I was helpless! I couldn't do anything to stop them... It was so humiliating, and It hurt so much, and, and...." Ryo rubbed Sage's back gently, his own eyes filled with a burning rage.

"Sage, don't worry. I'll get my revenge, I mean, we will." Sage shook his head miserably.

"No, forget it. What's done is done and we can't do anything about it." Ryo couldn't help but feel the rage burning up in him deeper. He wanted nothing but to go over to the dynasty and beat the crap out of the warlords.

"Sage, who.... exactly, did this to you?" Sage glanced up at Ryo for a brief moment before hanging his head once more.

"Don't hurt Sekhmet. He did nothing." Sage murmured slightly as Ryo nodded.

"Sage, it's a good thing you told someone. I'm just surprised it was me and not Rowen." Sage merely shrugged in response, head lying raggedly on Ryo's shoulder. A shuffling in the doorway caused him to look up, startled slightly to see his azure lover in the doorway, eyes wide in grief and despair.

"Rowen..." sage murmured as Rowen set the puppy basket on the floor and turned away, his back facing the two on the bed.

"I.... I don't know what I did. But I guess I did something wrong, if you don't trust me to be capable of telling your problems.... I'm sorry for what I did." Rowen struggled to speak through his chocking sobs, before exiting the room at an extreme speed. Sage watched Rowen rush out of the room, and sighed in frustration, letting himself fall back on Ryo.

"He did nothing, this is my problem, not his. I wish he could see that this is, is, embarrassing, and disquesting, and something I'd rather never speak of, especially not to a lover." Ryo said nothing as Sage laid on him.

"Sage, you know better then the rest of us that Rowen doesn't like to talk about himself. But we all know that he was abused as a child. And didn't he indeed tell you what his father did to him during his beatings?" Sage nodded faintly.

"He, he told you everything about himself, and he wishes that you felt that you could do the same with him. He respects you enough to tell you what happened to him, he fells that it's his fault that you don't feel the same." Sage couldn't help the steadily falling tears pouring down his cheeks.

"There's a difference! He wasn't degraded! He wasn't raped and sent to hell and stripped of any dignity he had! I was! And I sure as hell didn't feel like talking about it! Not even to him. But I thought that telling someone was good enough. And he told me that he didn't mind who, as long as I talked to someone about it! And I did. Big deal that it wasn't him. He's not the one facing a life crisis at the moment!" Sage took deep, un-controlled breaths that ran ragged.

"Sage, calm down." Ryo urged as Sage nodded in agreement.

"I'm getting bad lately. I have been letting my anger out, not kept my cool, let my emotions run free. Ugh, this is horrible for me." Ryo couldn't help but laugh. It was as if the real Sage was back, if only for a brief moment in time.

"Sage, I know that this is the hardest thing you've ever faced. It was horrible, degrading, unjustifiable, but it happened. And to you. If I could have been the one, if I could have taken your place, I would have. But I couldn't have. And I guarantee that Rowen feels the same way. He'd die for you Sage, you have to realize that. He's just a little upset that you chose me, not him. And its good that you told, that you talked to someone about it, it truly is. But he feels that you either like me better to tell me your problems, or that you find him to be a horrible person that is not worthy of you. I know that it's neither, but he doesn't, and that is what counts. I know that you're in no condition to get up and get him, so I will. Just stay here and be good, OK? Why don't you feed Rain? He's been whining for quite some time." Sage glanced up at the basket Rowen had left on the floor. The tiny puppy was whimpering softly, as Sage sighed.

"Ryo, go find him, I'll feed Rain." Ryo nodded as he ran off, leaving sage and the puppy.

~~~~~

After Ryo went on an hour search for Rowen, he found Strata, and willed the boy to come back to his pain filled lover in an attempt to reclaim sage's spirit, if that was even possible. The moment the two got home though, they found Sage, crumpled on the floor.

"Sage!" Rowen called out as he ran over to the blonde. Sage looked up at Rowen in sadness.

"Weak.... I'm so weak. I can't even walk right without the pain in me. You deserve better. A lot better. I'm sorry I'm so.... so pathetic." Ryo observed the situation and decided that it was one suitable only for Rowen. He slowly left the two and noted to himself to warn Cye and Kento from coming near the living room.

"Sage, your not pathetic." Rowen murmured as he knelt next to the blonde. Gingerly he wrapped his arms around sage.

"Love, why are you on the floor? You're not bleeding." Rowen pointed out as sage nodded in agreement.

"I know. But, it hurts. Every ache, every bruise, every cut, every time... penetration... ugh... I'm a wreck, and I know it. People have had things much worse then this happen to them. Given my rape was a gang rape by immortal guys with inhuman strength, but it was nothing compared to say, a family member, or a lover doing it. Someone you trusted. I didn't trust the warlords, no big problem there. But some people, they are raped by loved ones, people they care about, thought were nice and kind and could be trusted, while in reality they were doing it on purpose to get what they wanted." Rowen nodded softly in agreement to the blonde. Sage was so wise when his judgment wasn't clouded by pain and suffering and memories. Rowen couldn't help but give full sympathy to the blonde. Sage had suffered so much. He didn't deserve this onslaught of horror and madness. No one did.

"Sage, I love you. Please, never forget that." Sage nodded slightly, burring his head into Rowen's shirt.

"I know, I just wasn't ready to tell you what they did. I'm sorry, I should have thought about your feelings, I was insensitive, yet again. I'm really bad, aren't I?" Rowen shook his head in disagreement.

"That's hardly the case. You were just, confused. And Sage, when I said that I loved you, I truly did mean it. From the bottom of my broken heart."

"Not Britney Spears..." Sage murmured instinctively as Rowen burst out laughing.

"No matter how close to death you were, no matter how wounded, no matter how torn you are, you still hate the American pop stars."

"Well, they can't sing worth crap!" Sage exclaimed as Rowen continued laughing his head off at his blonde lovers antics.

"Well, I love you, and I don't care what it takes to make you better. I don't care if it takes forever, if I spend every night holding you from nightmares, or even if I never touch you again. Whatever makes you feel better, I'll do."

"Then the never touching is definitely a no no. Because not touching you is the last thing I had in mind" Sage gently, timidly, ever so slightly pressed his lips to Rowen's, trembling in what Rowen couldn't really tell what. Rowen kissed back gently, trying not to scare the step of bravery from Sage.Finally, blushing crimson, Sage pulled away from Rowen, who groaned softly in protest. Sage's face flushed more at Rowen's groan, as he hung his head.

"Sorry Sage, your just so damn good at that. Even when you're sick." Rowen said with a smug grin plastered to his face. Again, sage brought his lips to Rowen, who was very responsive, trying to resist the urge to deepen the kiss further. Unbeknownst to them, Cye and Kento had decided to ignore Ryo's warning, and stood, watching the couple from the doorway.

"Aren't they just so cute love?" Cye murmured as Kento nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, they are better together then I thought." Cye nodded as he leaned back into Kento's arms, watching the couple with no cares.

End of chapter 2  
  



	3. Through Thick and Thin

Short, happy ending. Actually, I'm working on a sequel if anyone cares, and the main focus is Ro-chan. And for once, Sage is barely in it until the end! (Sage is my fav. Character. He's almost always my main guy) Anyways, I don't own them, wish I did, but I don't. Anyways, This is what I dub "Cye on a rampage", and if you read the chapter, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about! Well, enjoy the oddity of things ibn my head!

Through Thick and Thin

Epilogue

Three months later

Two figures lay in bed, body's entwined, both in the depths of slumber. Slowly, one awoke and glanced down at the slim figure beneath him, that of a 17-year-old boy with silken, soft skin, the sliver of light peaking through the windows let off by the stars forming a halo around him. The waking boy sighed in contentment towards his lover, detaching his arms and pulling himself away from the warmth of the blonde. Slowly, he sat up, trying to keep the blonde from waking as well. Carefully, he slid his body out from under the covers, and padded over to the window, glancing at the stars that had lit Sage's face only moments before. For moments on end, he stood, gazing out at his element, heart longing to be among the stars once more. Strong arms wrapped themselves around his waist, as the person placed their chin on Rowen's head.

"Sage..." Rowen murmured as he turned to face the blonde. A faint smile graced the boy's lips.

"Rowen, you must miss... being up there." Sage pointed out, as Rowen nodded faintly.

"Its hard not to. I can't help but wish that I was up there as well, up with the stars. Feeling their warmth, absorbing their light." He felt the blonde nod against him, and sigh slightly.

"Rowen, why can't you? I mean, go up there? With your armour or something? Is it possible? I mean, at all? To do something like that?" Rowen shook his head slightly, in a miserable gesture.

"No, I really can't do anything like that. I wish I could." Sage's lean arms tightened around the midnight blue boy. Slowly, he whispered into the other's ear.

"Then I guess all that you have is my light. Sorry, its no strata, but it'll have to do." A calming sensation washed over Rowen, as Halos warmth filled his body. He slowly turned to face Sage, gripping Sage's arm and shaking him softly. Violet eyes slowly slid open.

"Does that work Rowen?" Sage murmured in question as Rowen grinned.

"It's no Strata, but it's good enough for me." Sage said nothing as Rowen led him back to the bed, gently laying the golden boy down across it. Rowen crawled a top of Sage, kissing the blonde feverishly. Sage moaned, not used to the extra, yet pleasurable, sensations.

"Yes, I do believe Halo's light will be quite satisfactory." 

~~~~~

"And I thought that Sage was afraid to do anything after what the warlords did to him. Could have fooled me." Kento muttered to Cye who laughed.

"Let them have their fun. Anyway, if you'd talk to them, you'd know that they fool around, but Sage can't take going all the way. And he has to see Rowen. And sometimes that's not enough." Kento looked at Cye oddly.

"What are you, the expert on their relationship?" Cye grinned.

"Maybe I am." Kento rolled his eyes and tightened his grip around Cye's slender waist.

"Now if only you were the expert on OUR relationship." Cye sighed.

"Well, our relationship has ME in it. And I am the wuss that is scared of everything. Now, that's no fun when there's a wuss in the relationship." Kento laughed, running strong, callused hands through the soft auburn hair.

"Well, maybe if you had higher self esteem, then you might not be such a wuss. And if you're a wuss, then what is Sage?" Cye thought for a moment.

"Um.... Confused? Scared? A rape victim?" Kento shrugged.

"Yeah, good point. It must be hard on Rowen. I don't know what I'd do if that happened to you. If they had chosen you, not Sage."

"They wouldn't have chosen me. I'm not the dashing blonde everyone wants a piece of." Kento smiled.

"But only Rowen gets. And anyway, I like you...." Cye blushed as Kento kissed his forehead.

"Sage is hot, but I don't think I could stand someone with so little emotions." Cye nodded, he took the gold in the emotions category.

"Sage has emotions, but he chooses to show them around Rowen, and that's it. If that had happened to me, I certainly wouldn't be a chatterbox."

"Yeah, the difference, is Sage never was. And he's even worse now. I mean, he's better in the he can now train with Ryo, and he can stand being touched, but he now totally lacks any urge to talk. Or eat. Which is almost as bad." Cye nodded in sadness.

"Rowen says that Sage's lost a lot of weight. I'm worried about him. I mean, he's tiny in waist wise. How much more weight can he lose?" Kento shrugged. He couldn't take the fact that Sage was depriving himself of the most wonderful thing in the world. Food, the essence of life.

"By the way, Ryo commented on his lack of food as well. They were training a lot, I mean really hard, shirtless and all, and Sage just collapsed in exhaustion." Kento winced. No matter how little Sage ate, he had never _collapsed before._

"Either Rowen starts forcing Sage to eat, or I'm going to." Cye warned as Kento kissed Cye once more.

"Wouldn't want to be Sage. Cye on a mission is not a good one." Cye slapped Kento playfully on the arm.

"I am not that bad!" Kento snorted.

"Yeah right! Cye, when Mia said you cared about us too much, she meant to say "you become a real bitch when it comes to someone's health."" Cye hung his head.

"Is it really that bad of a thing?" Kento shook his head rapidly.

"Who would feed me if not you?" Kento rubbed his stomach in emphasis. Cye laughed, resting his hand on top of Kento's.

"That's good to know."

~~~~~'

Cye stood in the kitchen during breakfast, waiting for Sage to come downstairs. He was tired of Rowen never doing anything to help the blonde's health. When Sage made an appearance, Cye immediately went to him.

"Sage, do you want anything to eat?" sage shook his head and walked past the auburn haired boy. Cye turned towards Sage in frustration.

"Damn it! Rowen isn't doing anything, and I'll be damned if I'll let you starve! Sage, you sit your ass down at the table, I will give you food, and you will eat it, got it!?" sage looked on in shock at Cye, and slowly slid into a seat at the table. Cye took a deep breath, as he handed Sage a plate of food.

"Now, eat." Sage looked up at Cye, violet eyes still slightly wide in surprise. Slowly he ate the food presented to him, and sipped at the tea. Cye watched Sage with hands crossed across his chest. He hadn't given the blonde a lot, well aware that Sage's stomach couldn't handle it.

" What? Who is that blonde that's actually eating, and what has he done with my anorexic Sage!" Rowen exclaimed from the staircase, as Sage glanced up.

"He's making me eat." Sage murmured as he shuffled the eggs back and forth on his plate. Cye suddenly grabbed the fork.

"Don't play with your food Date!" Sage winced at the use of his family name as Cye re handed him his fork. Rowen walked down the stairs, then over to his lover.

"Come on babe, just eat the food, and then the Mother Hen will leave you alone." Sage stood up from the seat.

"I'm full." Cye turned to him, anger flaring. Sage shook his head at Cye before the boy could speak.

"Leave me alone Mouri, I can take care of myself." And with those words, Sage silently left the room.

"Umm... Cye, I'll go talk to him." Rowen said as he scampered off after Sage.

~~~~~

Rowen walked over to the waterfall, well aware that that was where his lover would be.

"Sage?" Rowen asked quietly as he watched Sage gracefully move across the rocks, never losing footing, or stumbling on the stones. Sage ignored him at first, then finished his movements, and finally turned to his lover.

"What is it Rowen. If this is about breakfast, don't say anything." Rowen stood silently for a moment, eyes locked with deep violet.

"Sage, Cye is right. You need to eat. I don't want you to suffer from this lack of food. Ryo told us about how you collapsed. I don't want that to happen. You need food! You need it for energy! Especially from how many activities you do.' Sage turned away from Rowen.

" Sage, why are you starving yourself? What are you trying to prove, to do?" It was then an idea hit Rowen. 

"Sage, you aren't..." Rowen couldn't bear to finish his thoughts, his sentence. No. Sage wouldn't do that. Sage was to honorable, to smart, to... perfect to do that. To take his own life. To starve himself to death, push his body to his limits before it could bear no more. No, that wasn't his Sage. But then he realized something. This wasn't his Sage. This wasn't his calm, cool, fearless warrior. This, this boy was scared, silent, and fearful.

"Sage, you wouldn't think about taking your own life, would you?" Sage gave an odd look to Rowen, who blushed faintly.

" I didn't think so. I'm sorry for asking. It was foolish of me to think that you would do..."

"Yes." Rowen stumbled for words as he turned to Sage.

"What?" Sage's eyes met Rowen's. Rowen couldn't help but notice that the blonde's eyes were pale and almost gray. No longer intense, more sad and subdued.

"Yes. So dishonorable. But I... I can't take it. What they did, they stripped me of my glory, my honor, and my clothing. I, I'm useless. I can't face my own pains, I can't let what happened go, and I figured if I could just end this life, then I'd end the pain as well. But, I tried to do it myself, I tried to make the process fast, and be dead only a few days after it happened, but, I couldn't." Sage presented his hands to Rowen, small scars crossing both wrists in thin lines.

"I couldn't face the dishonor. I couldn't handle the fact that whatever semblance of honor was still preserved in me would be shattered. So I didn't do it. I couldn't. And that left me with only this option. A long, slow death. I'm surprised that I got away with it this far. Sure, I'd eat a little, but only to hid the fact of what I was doing. You, you surprised me. I thought you'd be the first to figure it out, since you are the one who sees me nude everyday."Rowen stood, dumbfound and speechless. His Sage. The one with strength, and the will to fight on against unbeatable odds. The one who would help them all, risk his own life to save his comrades. The one who made love to him with such heated passion, had shattered like so? And then it happened. Sage collapsed. Not from lack of energy, not from anything of that such, he collapsed in tears, curling into a tight ball on the cold stones beneath him. Sage sat, sobbing, face pressed against his knees, trembling slightly. Rowen couldn't take it. He quickly walked over to the blonde, pulling him in a tight, yet gentle embrace.

"Sage..." Was just about all Rowen could say, as he held the blonde to him. Sage pressed his face into Rowen's chest, soaking the blue shirt with tears.

"Shh..... just let it out Sage. We thought you were healed, and you put on a mask that fooled us all, but we were wrong. You aren't healed. And my guess is that only love and affection will change that." Rowen gently kissed Sage's forehead, as the blonde looked up at him, eyes red and watery.

"I'm sorry Rowen..." He murmured as Rowen pulled sage into his lap.

"I shouldn't have done this...." Rowen shook his head.

"It's OK Sage. Were going to help you through this, and I guarantee Cye will be more then happy to make you vegetarian meals." Sage nodded against Rowen.

"Now why don't you dry your eyes, we can go home, and we can start getting you back to your normal habits of eating, drinking tea, and later, you can train with Ryo again. After you get more energy back." Again Sage nodded as Rowen rose to his feet, and extended his hand to Sage. With a slight smile across his face, Sage took Rowen's hand, and excepted Rowen's help, love, and affection.

The End


End file.
